The Price of Freedom
by Cole224
Summary: Cas takes to kidnapping. Now, Dean and Sam have to convince the teenage soldier he can trust them.
1. Chapter 1

This story takes place in the fifth season of Supernatural and pre-season two for Dark Angel, while Alec is still inside Manticore.

I don't own Dark Angel or Supernatural

"So, we're up to kidnapping now?"

The incredulous words escaped Dean's mouth as he stared down at the teenager sleeping on one of the twin beds of the motel room he and Sam had stopped at the night before. Sam had gone out to find some food about five minutes before Cas had called, and then shown up with the already unconscious kid.

"I could not allow Zachariah or the other angels to get to him." One of those slight frowns crossed Cas' face. "He was most combative when I found him."

Dean snorted. "Yeah, well, most people aren't real happy when they're kidnapped. If they were, it wouldn't be kidnapping." Dean cocked an eyebrow at the angel. "You knocked him out, didn't you?"

"I explained my reasons for bringing him here."

Dean couldn't help but to be amused. He was reminded of the time when he and Cas had been searching for Raphael and Cas' belief that the truth would always work better than a lie and then shook his head. He needed to get back on track.

"He's not a shifter?" Dean asked, to be sure. Cas had already assured him that there was nothing supernatural about the kid. It was the first thing the angel did.

"No. He is not supernatural."

At those words, Dean was back to how the kid looked. The hair was longer than Dean's and, at that moment, a mess. It was a lighter color but Dean's had been the same when he was a teenager. His features were exactly the same as Dean's had been when he was that age. Those features were marred by bruises and the knuckles on the one of his hands were scraped raw and bloody. Dean seriously doubted Cas had caused _those _injuries.

"But you knocked him out and kidnapped him?" Dean clarified because even if the kid did look like him, according to Cas he _was _just a kid and Dean trusted Cas' judgment on that. Dean trusted Cas.

"Yes," Cas answered like he didn't get what the problem was.

Dean rolled his eyes. "He's a kid," Dean pointed out. "You can't just go around kidnapping kids." He paused. "Or knocking them out," he tacked on. The teenager probably had family. Family that most likely wouldn't appreciate someone knocking him out and taking him away. Even if that someone was an angel.

"It was necessary."

"Okay," Dean conceded, crossing his arms. "Why?"

"He is a potential vessel."

"For?" A feeling of dread invaded Dean's chest. He was pretty sure that there were only two angels that could drive Cas to kidnapping.

"Michael."

Dean opened his mouth…then closed it, once again studying the kid. He was supposed to be the only vessel left for Michael. It was why Zachariah had been coming after him so hard; it was why Zachariah had sent him to the future to witness the so called consequences of not saying yes to Michael.

"He's not..." Dean didn't finish the sentence. He'd already been surprised by one brother he hadn't known about. One brother that had been killed before either Dean or Sam had ever found him. Cas seemed to guess what he was thinking.

"Not in the traditional sense," he said in that vague way that he liked which also never failed to irritate Dean.

"What the hell does that mean?"

Cas was cut off from answering when the door to the motel room opened and Sam entered. He took one look at Cas and then the look on Dean's face and Dean saw him tense.

"What's going on?"

Dean shrugged, gestured to his bed. He turned his gaze back on the kid, expecting to see him still asleep. Instead, Dean found himself staring into a set of green eyes the same color as his own.

Xxxxxxx

He was not in his bunk in solitary anymore. He knew that without even opening his eyes. The bed he was lying on was a little too soft. He was a little too warm. The room smelled different. The lowest level of Manticore, which was where he'd been sleeping for the last six months, smelled of blood, body fluid, and mold.

His body still ached from the last beating the guards had delivered and his head was still pounding. He'd spent all day in Psy-Ops. He hadn't been given anything to eat in days and hours in front of the laser left him feeling hardly able to stand on his own.

There was a conversation going on somewhere near his feet. He recognized the voice of the strange man who had shown up near his bunk. And he'd thought he'd been hallucinating when the guy in the trench coat had shown up, claiming things that were not possible.

He had to fight to keep his face impassive as he wondered what the game was this time. It had to be some sort of test. Usually, they just forced their way into his head, tore away at his mind and he wondered a moment if he really was still hallucinating.

Either way, pretending to sleep wouldn't get him anywhere and he reluctantly opened his eyes and managed to prop himself up on his elbows just as he heard a door open. He found himself staring into green eyes the same shade as his own.

Xxxxxxxx

The kid's eyes were wary as they stared into Dean's. There was a flicker of surprise in those eyes as he looked Dean over but it was gone as fast as it came.

"Cas…" Dean ran a hand over his face, and then he surged towards his brother. "Sam, don't." Sam had already been reaching for his gun.

"What the hell is going on?" Sam asked, staring at the kid on the bed, who still hadn't said anything.

Dean turned his gaze back on the angel. "That's a good question."

"He shares your blood," Cas answered. "As for the rest, I believe that is his story to tell." Cas turned from him and walked closer to the bed. "I know what you think. However, you are wrong. I have taken you away from there. What I told you was the truth." A second later, he was gone and Dean was swearing. He calmed down after a minute and turned back to the kid.

"So," he started reluctantly. "You got a name?"

Xxxxxxxxx

494 assessed the situation, unsure of how to answer the question. Men in trench coats disappearing into thin air. The guy who looked just like him, if a few years older. Still, this wasn't Manticore's usual procedure during re-indoctrination.

He stared down at his hands, saw the bloody knuckles. One of the guards had brought his foot down on it earlier that day. He was a big disappointment, apparently. He'd already been down twice, both times because of 493. This time, however, it hadn't had anything to do with 493.

His thoughts went immediately to _why. _Too _why _he'd been sent in for reindoctrination this time, for the third time. He blinked when Rachel's face swam in his vision and suddenly it didn't matter. It didn't matter that the two men in front of him might not be real. It didn't matter that they might be.

For a moment, all he could see and hear was the explosion.

A hand landed on his shoulder and he almost jumped, chagrined that he hadn't noticed the one who looked like him coming closer.

"You alright?" The man asked and he was surprised at the look of actual concern in the guy's eyes.

"Yes." He knocked the hand easily from his shoulder and sat up straighter.

"Okay." The man raised an eyebrow. "You gonna tell me your name?"

He considered the two men a moment before struggling to his feet. They didn't stop him from going to the window. He stared out at the parking lot of the motel, at the highway beyond. When he turned back to the two men, caught sight of the bag of takeout food in the taller ones hand, he was struck with the idea that maybe it was all real.

One particular memory came back to him, one of what Manticore did to escapees. He'd been dragged down to Psy-Ops himself back when he'd been younger because he'd been twinned with 493. He hadn't even known about 493 until that point.

He'd also seen, firsthand, what happened to the escapees that Manticore managed to capture. It had been Lydecker's way of wiping any thought of doing the same from the minds of the rest of them.

He couldn't go back. That thought struck him, made him still. He wouldn't survive it. Renfro had made that clear after he failed his last mission. If this was all real, he was stuck.

Xxxxxxxx

Dean exchanged a look with Sam before they both turned their gazes back on the kid. The boy seemed to be having some sort of battle with himself but he wasn't running. Dean doubted he could. The kid's eyes were bloodshot and he was teetering on his feet. Someone had beaten the crap out of him and Dean was willing to bet he hadn't slept in a few days. He knew the look.

When the kid's knees began to collapse, Dean pushed aside any reservations about approaching skittish teenagers who'd been taken against their will and stepped forward, taking the kids weight.

He steered the kid to his bed again and sat him down. He tilted the kids head, studying the bruises that stood out starkly against pale skin.

"Somebody at home do this to you?" Dean asked, without even thinking about it.

"You're the one who kidnapped me," the kid said.

"Actually, that was the dude in the trench coat," Dean countered.

"He disappeared." A frown formed on the kids face.

"Yeah, he does that."

"It's not possible." He turned his glazed green eyes on Dean.

"Yeah, well, you saw it. Isn't seeing believing?"

"Not always." He blinked and Dean was sure he was about ready to pass out. He was proven right when a moment later the kid slumped against Dean. Sam helped him move the kid into a more comfortable position and they both stared down at the kid.

"You think his family did that?" Sam asked with a frown.

Dean shrugged. "We don't even know if he has family," Dean pointed out, a little angry at Cas' disappearing act and at the angel's seemingly spontaneous decision to kidnap a teenager without at least telling Dean and Sam first.

"Why would Cas take him?" Sam asked, reminding Dean that he hadn't been in the room for that explanation.

"He says the kids a potential vessel for Michael," Dean revealed, moving his gaze to Sam.

Surprise crossed Sam's eyes. "But…" And Dean knew that Sam was thinking the same thing Dean had been since Cas had shown up with the kid.

"Yeah." Dean's mind went to Adam, to how he'd failed that boy. To how he'd died horribly before Dean had even gotten the chance to meet him and he made the decision instantly. He didn't even have to say it. Sam could see it in his eyes.

"Okay." Sam nodded. "Okay. We protect him."


	2. Chapter 2

Very sorry about this. I had some pretty massive writers block with, really, all of my stories. For some reason, I just couldn't seem to get them written. Guess I had a pretty big block going on for a while.

Sam rested the laptop on his knees and leaned back in the chair beside the twin bed the kid was sleeping in. Dean was asleep in the other one. Not soundly. Dean never slept soundly anymore but at least he was sleeping. They'd taken shifts after Sam had agreed that one of them probably should be up when the kid woke.

The kid wasn't exactly sleeping soundly either, though, despite the exhaustion Sam had clearly seen on his face before he'd passed out. Sam knew what horrors Dean was dreaming about. He wondered what kind the kid had in his past.

Sam had had hours to get over the shock of just how much the kid looked like Dean. He was a picture image of Dean at eighteen. He frowned in sympathy when his eyes trailed over the bruises on the kid's face. Someone had done a number on him and with how young he was, Sam could only guess that it had to be someone in his family.

The boy turned his head in his sleep and Sam's frown deepened when he caught sight of the tattoo marring the back of his neck. Leaning forward, Sam examined it closely, something tugging at his memory.

Sam pulled out his phone and hit the speed dial for Bobby.

Xxxxxxxx

He wasn't used to waking up and not being in pain. He wasn't used to waking up comfortable. He'd come to expect it, even revel in it lately. The first two times he'd been sent down for re-indoctrination, he'd railed against it. This time, he hadn't. He'd deserved it. At least when the laser was piercing his skull, sending fire through his brain, or when the guards were kicking him hard enough to crack ribs, he wasn't thinking about _her. _He wasn't thinking about the look on her face when he'd told her who he really was. He wasn't seeing the explosion.

When he opened his eyes this time, he sat up slowly, remembering what had happened the last time and really unable to do anything else. It had been months since he had first been taken down for re-indoctrination and, for months, he hadn't had the energy for anything other than letting the guards drag him down the halls of Manticore.

"Feelin' any better?" There was a man standing at the foot of the bed he had been sleeping on and his senses went on alert. He did remember the man from the last time he had woken up, and now he studied the guy. The taller one was standing beside him and neither approached the bed.

"I'm alright." He struggled to sit up straighter though. He hadn't had anything to eat in days and the last round with the laser had sent him into a seizure.

There was an uncomfortable little pause before the one that looked like him, or he looked like because the guy was older, spoke.

"Okay…I'm Dean, this is Sam." He gestured to the taller one. "You got a name?"

He opened his mouth to answer and then closed it immediately. When he'd first woken up, he'd been sure that it was some sort of dream or that Manticore was messing around in his head again but the longer that he was awake, the more he realized that it wasn't that. He knew all the tricks they used during re-indoctrination. He'd been through them three times.

And there was a foreign look of concern in the green eyes of the older man that had introduced himself as Dean. He'd rarely seen that look directed at him before.

"Alec," he finally answered because it wasn't like he could give them his designation. He frowned as he let the name slip out. There had been this girl, back when he was young; another X-5 that had given him the name after they'd heard one of the guards call him a smart aleck. He hadn't ever used it, of course.

"You hungry, Alec?"

Xxxxxxx

The kid, Alec, was still watching them warily. Dean couldn't exactly blame him but at least he hadn't bolted yet. He offered Alec one of the burgers Sam brought back with him but the kid still hadn't eaten any of it.

Finally, Dean rolled his eyes from where he was sitting on the other bed. "It's not poisoned. Don't even say it," he directed at Sam when his brother opened his mouth, most likely to comment on how bad fast food was…

"Why am I here?" Alec asked them, setting the burger aside. The look on his face was unreadable and Dean opened his mouth to comment but cut off when Cas appeared, again. Dean stood.

"About time," he said as the kid stared at Cas with wide eyes. He had jumped to his feet too, swaying just a little bit. "Where the hell have you been?"

Cas, of course, ignored Dean's tone. "I was making certain there were no others."

"No others for what?" Sam asked, standing slower than the other two and keeping an eye on Alec, who looked ready to bolt this time.

Cas looked passed the, to Alec, one of those frowns forming on his face. He started forward, towards the kid, who backed away, his stance shifting subtly into what Dean recognized as a defensive one.

And Cas still had no sense of personal space. Quickly, before the kid could react, he reached forward and placed two fingers on Alec's forehead. There was a gasp and the kid's knees gave out, landing him back on the bed.

Cas turned to Dean and Sam again and answered the unvoiced question. "He was thinking of knocking you out and leaving."

Dean surveyed Alec for a moment. "Because we couldn't have stopped him?"

"Perhaps in the state he is in, you may have been able to. However, once he is healthy…"

"What?" Dean pressed. He studied the kid again, who still hadn't looked up. He'd brought a hand up to his head. "I thought you said he wasn't supernatural."

"No," Sam spoke up. "This isn't supernatural. This is science."

Xxxxxxx

As soon as the man in the trench coats fingers made contact with his forehead, something changed. The relayed message he got from the stranger was strange but he…believed it.

He really was out. Out of Manticore. He was aware of the three men talking but he barely paid attention to them.

When he'd been small, he'd been taken down to Psy-Ops because he was twinned with one of the twelve X-5's that had escaped. Back then, and even a long time after that, he hadn't really understood it. Escape had never crossed his mind. He had no idea that there was even anything outside to escape to.

It wasn't until they'd started debriefing him and sending him out on missions that he'd realized that not all kids grew up the same as he had, that there even was something out there.

Still, he'd never questioned it, not once, not until _her…Rachel. _He'd thought about it, during those long hours in solitary afterwards. He'd thought about how he wasn't feeling bad because he'd disobeyed orders and warned her. No, he felt bad because he'd waited too late to do it, because he'd set the bomb in the first place, even if he hadn't been the one to pull the trigger.

Xxxxxxxx

The disapproval on Cas' face was clear as he spoke, explained just what the kid was, after prompting from both Sam and Dean, and with the knowledge that somehow Sam already knew some of it.

"Bobby came across it before. Said there were these murders that happened a while back that seemed to have been committed something stronger than the average person. He got a tip that led him to…" Sam gestured to the kid.

"Right." Dean turned his attention back to Alec and approached him. "You alright?" He repeated the question, a frown on his face. Alec looked up at them with a somewhat dazed expression.

"Always," he answered after a moment but the frown on his own face and the look in his eyes put the lie to his words.

"Sure." Dean paused.

Alec studied him a moment. "You were the original doner, weren't you?"

Dean shrugged. "Guess so. Don't remember doing anything like that, though."

Alec nodded, glanced around again.

"Not going to bolt, are you?" Dean asked, shifting because he thought maybe Alec would despite whatever it was Cas had hit him with.

Alec let out what might have been a laugh. "I don't have anywhere to go." Dean and Sam exchanged alarmed looks when they saw something close to panic in Alec's eyes.

Xxxxxxxxx

When the reality of the situation began to sink in, that was about the time that he did start to feel panic for the first time in his life. Maybe it wasn't that he was out but there was no turning back, he knew that.

As much as he had hated Manticore in the last several months, especially on those nights when he'd lain awake in solitary with nothing but the memory of a car exploding to keep him company, it was all he'd ever known.

What was he supposed to do?

Then he heard the words that Dean Winchester was saying and he looked up to meet Dean's green eyes, green eyes exactly like his own.

"It's gonna be alright," Dean said, holding up his hands.

Alec raised an eyebrow and let out another one of those laughs. Nothing was alright.


	3. Chapter 3

Alec listened to Dean and Sam's explanation for why Cas had taken him out of Manticore with an unreadable expression on his face. Honestly, Dean wasn't really sure what to think.

Easing Alec into the truth wasn't an option anymore, not after Cas had pulled his disappearing act twice and apparently proclaimed himself an angel of the lord upon their first meeting. Cas still sucked at the subtle approach.

After Cas' explanation of what Alec was, Dean had been furious. What he'd heard was that these people _tortured children _and used them for their dirty work. All he had to do was look at the bruises on Alec's face to confirm this.

It was again brought to Dean's attention just how cruel everyday people could be. He lived in a world of demons and spirits and monsters. The people that had given Alec those bruises weren't demons but, in Dean's opinion, they sure as hell were monsters.

Dean had been to Hell for forty years and he'd seen-and done-horrible things but these were _children _Cas had been talking about. Even the angel, who was usually so stoic that it had taken Dean nearly a year to gain the ability to read him at all, had displayed outright disgust when he'd spoken of the place Alec had apparently grown up in.

It only strengthened Dean's earlier resolve to help the kid. Alec was his blood, related to him the same way Sam was, the way Adam had been. The problem was that Alec hadn't been around when the situation he and Sam were in had started and it was a little hard to believe.

It wasn't until Dean had started in on the explanation about Michael and Lucifer, wondering if he should tell the kid everything, when Alec stood abruptly, cutting him off.

"I need to go." He even started towards the door, still barefoot and wearing the clothes Cas had brought him in with.

"Whoa." Dean stood, blocked his path. "Where are you going to go?"

"Don't know but I need to…" He shook his head. "I need to go."

"Alec." Sam stood as well, wearing that earnest expression he always wore when he was trying to calm down someone who was either scared or threatening to kill them. "I know all this is crazy-"

"Insane," Alec interrupted and his expression was frustrated, "but your friend in the trench coat was very convincing. I still need to go." He pushed his way past Dean this time.

"You've never been out," Dean pointed out before he could go out the door.

"I learn fast," Alec countered. "I'll be fine."

"Why do you need to leave now?" Sam asked, stopping him again.

Alec sighed, ran a hand through his hair. "Look, they're going to be looking for me now and if they ever catch up to me…I've already been sent down too many times. They ever find me now, I'm dead."

"They're not the only ones you have to worry about," Dean called just as he was about to open the door. "You stay here and we have a chance of stopping all this. Leave and you're not the only one who'll die."

Alec paused and dropped his hand from the doorknob. "So, what? I don't have a choice?"

"No, you have choices," Dean said. He grimaced and there was a hint of an apology in his tone next. "Just not a whole lot of good ones."

"Just stay," Sam implored. "Hear us out. You can still go later if you want."

And, as usual, that look on Sam's face seemed to work.

"You're probably hungry," Dean pressed. "We could go out and get something."

Sam turned to him, raised an eyebrow. '_You sure that's a good idea?'_ His expression asked. Dean just shrugged. Keeping the kid cooped up in their motel would probably only make him want to leave even more.

"You can borrow some of my clothes if you want. Take a shower…"

Xxxxxxxx

Alec almost smiled when he locked the door to the bathroom and he actually took a moment to revel in the fact that he could do it. There was a curtain hanging from the rod and no one else was in the room.

For about a half an hour, he allowed himself not to think about the danger he was in and that, now, he would be running for the rest of his life. Instead he took his time.

Everything about his life at Manticore had been controlled, including shower times and nothing was private. This, the privacy allowed by the locked door and even the shower curtain was definitely a new experience.

Xxxxxxxx

Alec couldn't keep himself from sweeping his gaze around the small diner that they stepped into forty five minutes later. The clothes Dean had offered were a little big on him but at least they were clean.

He sat across from Dean and Sam, who were looking at him like he was going to run at any minute. He also got the impression that they were worried about how he was going to interact with other people.

He still thought it was probably a good idea if he did leave, it was ingrained in him. He'd been taught not to stay still for too long in enemy territory and now, everywhere was potentially that. After all, he was well versed in Manticore's tactics.

He wondered a moment if the news of his disappearance had gotten to Lydecker yet. Alec knew he'd been charged with the search for the twelve escapees and he knew how relentless Lydecker would be. Manticore never took failures well and that went for its paid employees too.

"You're not leaving," Dean spoke up, broke him out of his thoughts with a look in his eyes that almost made Alec think he could hear them.

Alec didn't answer; instead simply taking the menu that Sam offered as the waitress came up to them but he also didn't miss the actual concern in Dean's eyes. He scanned the menu as she took Dean and Sam's order. He hadn't often had the opportunity to even choose what he was going to eat and, in the end, settled on what Dean had ordered. When he looked up at the waitress, she frowned at him.

"What happened to you, honey?" She asked, taking notice of the bruises on his face and casting a look at Dean and Sam. Alec wondered if she'd heard what Dean had said before, and the almost angry tone he'd used.

For some reason, he couldn't let her think badly of either of them. Even if they might be crazy, they were still the only people Alec had ever met that had actually been concerned for his well being.

Alec widened his eyes and stared up at her with his best 'innocent little boy' expression, knowing that in Dean's too large clothes and his un-brushed hair, it was only emphasized.

"I got mugged on my way home from school," he said as earnestly as he could manage.

"Really?" Her expression immediately melted.

Alec nodded. "It's my first year of college." He shrugged a little sheepishly. "I shouldn't have been out so late." He put enthusiasm in his expression. "I'm going home with my brothers for the weekend," he continued, turning a smile on Sam and Dean.

In the end, the waitress left but not before giving him an affectionate squeeze on his shoulder and a promise of a free desert. There was surprise on the faces of both Dean and Sam after she left and he raised an eyebrow.

"What?" He asked, self conscious. He knew he'd just played to the woman and while that was a skill that was encouraged at Manticore, he was suddenly worried that it wasn't one that these two men would like.

"Just…surprised," Dean said, averting his eyes to the menu.

Alec's eyes narrowed and he realized then that it wasn't disapproval that he was seeing and he remembered that they had been a little worried about how he would react around strangers.

"I thought your friend told you what I was," he whispered, leaning forward. He'd thought they knew at least something of how he'd grown up.

"He did," Sam said, and there was still a little bit of that surprise in his tone. "We just thought…"

He trailed off but Alec knew what he was trying to say. He leaned back in his seat and let his expression slip back into the one he'd perfected at Manticore and he was suddenly tired again, disillusioned that both these men could be so caught off guard just because he excelled at lying.

He was hit with the thought that maybe, despite what they'd been told, they had been thinking of him mostly as just a kid, that they'd been thinking of him the way they would a normal kid. Problem was, Alec had never really been a kid.

He wondered morosely if they would still want him to stick around if they found out some of the other things he'd done in his lifetime.

Xxxxxxxx

The waitress must have heard what he'd said. Dean was, at least, pretty sure of that when she'd cast that accusing glance his way. He'd had his response ready; affronted that she would think that when Alec had cut in.

The lie fell smoothly from the kid's lips, completely with a wide-eyed, innocent look that could rival Sam's best. Dean was, well, a little bit surprised.

Alec had been so damned skittish since he'd woken up the second time, and he'd almost left. Dean knew that he hadn't quite believed everything Dean and Sam had told him and it was still likely that he would leave.

Dean had been a little worried about taking him out in public. From what Cas had told him, he'd gotten the impression that Alec hadn't been allowed out much. It was one of the reasons that Dean had insisted they go out. After all, he didn't want to be compared in any way to the place Alec had grown up in and Alec had been locked away from the real world for most of his life.

He should have expected it, he guessed. Apparently, he'd been stuck on the _locked up _and _tortured _part of Cas' explanation and he'd forgotten the part where Alec was also trained for this kind of stuff.

He felt the sting of guilt for not thinking of that when he saw self consciousness settle in Alec's eyes and then that was wiped away by an expressionless mask he'd seen after the first time Alec had woken up in their motel room.

Then he felt that anger start up again, the same anger he'd felt when Cas had been speaking. Cas had only said that Manticore trained them as soldiers and Dean wondered what else, besides how to tell a good lie, that that place had taught and forced Alec to do.


	4. Chapter 4

"What is the point of this?"

"The point? Target practice," Dean answered. "I thought that was pretty obvious."

"That's not what I meant," Alec said with a frown. "You already know what I am. I know how to shoot a gun with accuracy."

"Just humor me, will ya?" Dean handed over the gun and raised an eyebrow.

"Fine." Alec accepted it and clicked off the safety before turning and raising it. He fired off four shots in quick succession, breaking each target Dean had set up, in this case four beer bottles.

"Huh." He took the gun back when Alec offered it. They were far enough back that Dean could barely see the bottles. "Okay, you're good."

"I'm a lot better than that," Alec stated and Dean could have sworn he looked a bit on the smug side.

"Oh, yeah?" Dean grinned. "Prove it."

For the first time since Dean had met Alec, the kid actually smiled.

Xxxxxxx

"What's the point in this?" Alec asked from the couch as he watched Dean put in the movie he'd rented.

"You can't go through the rest of your life without seeing this movie at least once," Dean said, settling down as the movie began.

"Maybe he won't like westerns," Sam suggested from where he was sitting at the table with his laptop out.

"Shut it," Dean said. "This isn't just a western."

Sam smiled at that but didn't comment further. Besides, Alec did seem to be getting into the movie the longer it played.

Xxxxxxx

"He quit."

Sam looked away from his computer at the words, the first words Alec had spoken since Dean had left to get them something to eat. He had been flipping through one of the books Sam had offered him on the supernatural.

"Who quit?"

"That guy on the movie." Alec frowned a moment. "He quit and got a family and everything."

"Yeah…"

"You think you'll ever quit?" Alec finally looked up at him and there was a frown on his face.

Sam frowned as well. "It's just a movie," he said after a moment. "It's not like we're out killing people for money."

"Yeah but you could still quit and have the same thing, right?"

"Tried that before. It didn't work out." Sam did not try and explain the scope of what they were facing. That Alec had been dropped into their lives after Lucifer had been freed and that there was a very high likelihood that none of them would survive at the end of everything.

"Oh." Alec seemed lost in thought for a moment and Sam sighed.

"When this is over," _if we win this fight, _"you could maybe."

"No, I can't. Even if I left now, Manticore's still going to be chasing me down for the rest of my life."

"If you still want to leave-" Sam started but Alec cut him off.

"No. I mean, I don't know. I should. But I…" He trailed off, chewed his lip and was saved from having to finish his thought when Dean walked in carrying a couple bags of food.

Xxxxxxxx

"You sure this is such a good idea right now?" Sam asked yet again. Dean didn't take his eyes from the road when he answered.

"Hey, Bobby called. What do you want to do? Ignore him?"

"No, but…" Sam didn't finish but didn't have to, at least not for Dean. Bobby hadn't exactly been in the best of moods lately, not that Dean or Sam blamed him for it.

"You're going to tell another person?" Alec spoke up after a moment. He was glaring at them; Dean noted when he glanced in the rearview mirror.

"Look, don't worry about it. I'd trust Bobby with my life."

"Well, I don't know the guy. I barely know you even," he pointed out with a huff.

"But you trust us, right?" Sam pressed him, turning in his seat so he could face Alec. "You've stayed so far."

"Because you said that if I left then I'd end up putting everyone in danger."

"So, you don't trust us?" Sam asked.

Alec hesitated. "I guess," he mumbled. "But that doesn't mean I want a bunch of strangers knowing everything about me."

"I doubt we know everything about you."

Alec raised an eyebrow. "You know that I was made in a lab and locked up in a government facility my whole life. Isn't that enough? Besides, I know you guys have bigger issues to worry about but Manticore isn't exactly a minor threat. They'd kill all of you just for knowing this stuff about me."

"It's not a bunch of strangers," Dean said. "It's just Bobby. If you're gonna stay with us, you're eventually gonna meet him anyway. Look, we're not gonna tell anybody else. Bobby's the only one left who knew us when we were kids anyway."

Alec leaned back and crossed his arms. "Fine," he relented finally. "But it's just him."

"Right."

Xxxxxxxxxx

Alec was fidgeting in his seat as Dean spoke. He kept his gaze on Bobby while Dean and Sam explained things. Bobby was an older man and, Alec had been surprised to see, in a wheelchair. Now, Bobby was staring at him as well when Dean was finished with his explanation.

"It's like a damned soap opera," Bobby commented after a moment, looking from Dean to Alec and back again.

"What's a soap opera?" Alec asked.

"But you're alright with this aren't you?" Sam said. "I mean, if Cas is right then he is in trouble."

"Yeah, yeah. Guess this isn't the weirdest things I've seen happen with you boys."

"That hunt you were tellin' me about on the phone?" Dean asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah."

Alec frowned at them for ignoring his question but didn't ask again. Instead he watched the three of them while Bobby brought out a newspaper and started telling them about the hunt he'd called Dean about.

The matter was settled, just like that. Bobby didn't comment further on it and seemed to accept the fact that he was traveling with Dean and Sam with an ease that Alec found startling.

"So," Alec interjected finally, gaining the attention of the other three men. "I get to go on this hunt with you?"

There was a silence following that question before Dean answered him. "Yeah, about that. We were thinkin' maybe it'd be better if you stayed here."

"What? Why?"

"Well…You know, I've been meaning to ask you. How old are you, exactly?"

Alec shrugged. "Seventeen or eighteen...I think."

"You think?" Bobby asked, both of his eyebrows shooting up.

Alec shrugged again. "It's somewhere around in there. What?" He asked, agitated. "It's not like we celebrated birthdays at Manticore."

"Well, it's just that dragging an underage kid out on hunts-"

"I'm not a kid even if I am underage," Alec interrupted him with a scowl. "I'm not going to end up staying behind in a motel while you guys do this. If I'm staying with you guys, them I'm working with you. Besides, weren't both of you doing this when you were my age?"

"That's different," Dean insisted.

"Different how?"

"Because we shouldn't have been," Sam stated with a sigh. "You don't have to-"

"Stop." Alec held up a hand and glared at all three of them. "You people know my history, or at least the important parts. I've never _been _a kid. So stop treating me like one."

Sam and Dean shared a look that Alec couldn't quite interpret before Dean answered him finally. "Alright."

Xxxxxxxx

That agreement was how Alec found himself searching around a town for some poker playing witch with Sam.

"You're good at this game?" Alec asked Sam when they left yet another bar.

"I'm…fair. You've never played?"

"Heard of it," Alec admitted. He'd heard Rachel's father talk about it before. His fist clenched when the thought crossed his mind and he remembered the smile on Robert Berrisford's face when he'd told Alec that.

"What's wrong?" Sam asked him, stopping.

"Nothing," Alec forced out and then pointed out yet another bar. "What about there?"

"Yeah, maybe."

Xxxxxxxxxx

"_I didn't know what you were. I mean, have you seen you? You look like-" _

"_The old chick in Titanic, I know." _

"_I was gonna say Emperor Palpatine." _

"Who's Emperor Palpatine?" Alec asked them just as Bobby came into the room, staring at a severely aged Dean. "And why are you so calm?" He pressed on before they could answer his first question. "This sort of thing happen often?"

"Well, not specifically this," Sam said with a shrug. "But, you know…" He turned back to Dean and Bobby. "Either of you wanna tell me what happened."

Alec stood back and watched the three of them argue, feeling distinctly out of place. Not just because he didn't understand most of the references but also because the conversation had gotten decidedly personal the longer it went.

"_You got me. I've never been paralyzed. But I'll tell you something, I've been to Hell-"_

"Wait. What?" Alec interjected suddenly, straightening.

"That's a bit of a long story," Dean said. He didn't look at Alec as he said it.

"But-"

"I really don't think now's the time for war stories," Bobby cut him off.

They started back in on the case after that and Alec didn't interrupt again.

Xxxxxxxx

Maybe it was the rant Bobby went on about putting a gun in his mouth because of the chair. Maybe it was the suggestion, that sounded almost like an order, that he stay downstairs while Dean and Sam went up to snoop around the witches place. Maybe it was the fact that he had no clue what they were talking about half the time, or the fact that he hadn't really done anything at all at the end of the day.

He wasn't sleeping. He lay on the floor in Bobby's living room and couldn't. He'd learned more about Dean and Sam during that one hunt than he had during the week he'd spent with them beforehand.

And what he'd learned made him feel like he shouldn't be there. Like he should have left as soon as he could. He sat up after a moment and considered leaving right then. Before he could follow through on it, however, he picked up the sound of someone coming down the stairs and he turned to see Sam.

"Can't sleep either?" Sam asked. Alec shook his head and Sam tilted his towards the kitchen. "Hungry?"

After only a moment's hesitation, Alec stood and followed him into the room. "You eat in the middle of the night."

"Sure." Sam said with a shrug. "Course, it might be because I haven't slept at all and I haven't eaten in a while."

"Right." Alec watched him make two sandwiches and accepted one of them, although he only stared down at it.

"What's wrong?" Sam asked, gaining his attention again and Alec could see actual concern in his eyes. He'd had a hard time picking out that emotion before. He'd never seen it before Rachel…

"I just…don't know anything about this stuff. And I didn't really do anything…"

"That's what's keeping you up?" Sam raised an eyebrow and Alec sighed before shaking his head.

"No," he admitted. "What Dean said…about Hell…" He saw Sam stiffen. "He didn't mean that literally did he?"

Sam hesitated for several seconds before answering. "Yeah, he did."

Alec didn't press on for more answers. He'd learned about religion at Manticore. It was all really a history lesson, however. The specific beliefs of the major religions. The knowledge that it was real wasn't what disturbed him most.

"I think I should leave," he said quietly.

"Why?" Sam asked, and Alec thought he almost sounded angry.

"I just…don't fit in here."

"You just got here," Sam pointed out. "It's not like you're gonna know everything about the job right off or everything about us."

"That's not it." Well, it wasn't all of the reason. "I'm just…"

"Just what?"

"A bad person." He'd never thought of himself like that before. Technically, he'd never even thought of himself as a person. He'd only followed orders and he'd been good at it. And then he'd been sent out on his first long term mission and he'd seen the truth.

Sam, Dean, and Bobby were good people. He'd seen that in the short amount of time he'd known them.

"You're not a bad person," Sam protested immediately.

"You don't know everything that I did."

"No, but I still know you're not one of the bad guys. Look, we've all done things we regret-"

"I'm pretty sure I was eight," Alec cut him off. "First time I killed someone."

"Alec…"

"I should leave," Alec repeated, scrubbing a hand through his hair.

"I'm the one who kick started the apocalypse," Sam blurted out suddenly. Alec's gaze snapped back to his.

"What?"

"Yeah. I trusted the wrong person, made too many mistakes to count, and because of that, Lucifer is free and we're all probably gonna die."

Alec sat frozen at this revelation. He could see the guilt shining in Sam's eyes then and Sam gave him a bitter little smile.

"We've all done things we regret. But Dean wants you here. I want you here. I can't stop you from leaving but you should really think about it, okay? You're not gonna find any judgment from me." He got up then, and patted Alec's shoulder on his way past.

Alec sat for several minutes after Sam had left. In the end, when he got up, he didn't walk out the door, instead he headed back into the living room.


	5. Chapter 5

I'm trying my best to write a younger Alec in this one. I mean, before Rachel, he never really had any normal human contact, never even kissed a girl before, and completely did not understand, at first, that Rachel was attracted to him. So, I have to work with that Alec rather than the more experienced one from the show.

Oh, and I forgot to say the movie they were watching last chapter was Unforgiven, possibly the best western ever made.

Xxxxxxxx

"Yeah! See, told you."

Sam glanced up from his computer at the sound of his brother's voice, and almost smiled. He was sitting at a table in one of the local bars in a town they were passing through. Alec and Dean were at the pool table not far away because Dean had insisted that pool was one of the things that Alec just had to learn.

They'd gotten Alec his very own fake id. Sam had been a little wary about it at first but he really needed it. Sam refrained from telling them, at least for the moment, that he had found a few potential cases. Not when he spotted the genuine smile on Dean's face when Alec followed his instructions and successfully sunk one of the balls on the table.

Instead he focused back on his computer and decided to try and pick out which one looked mostly likely to be their sort of case himself. If Dean was actually having a good time, he wasn't going to interrupt. He only looked up again when Dean and Alec made their way over and sat down at the table.

"Finished?"

"Kid's a fast learner," Dean said with a shrug, grabbing the beer that had been waiting for him. Alec frowned at being called a kid again but didn't protest. "We got something?"

"Not sure yet," Sam said, closing his computer.

"Great," Dean said, only sounding mildly disappointed.

"We could stay here another day," Sam suggested with a shrug.

"Why would we do that?"

"Can we watch another one of those movies?" Alec asked, his eyes lighting up at the prospect. Thanks to Dean, he'd gotten attached to westerns. They'd already watched several old Clint Eastwood movies.

Xxxxxxxxx

"I don't like it," Alec stated, a disgusted expression on his face. He pushed the plate with apple pie away from him.

"You don't like apple pie?" Dean asked incredulously, shooting Sam a glare when he barely suppressed a laugh.

"No." He looked between the two men. "Is that a big deal?"

"No, it's not a big deal," Sam interjected before Dean could say anything.

"Guess we could try something else," Dean said, flagging the waitress again. They'd splurged a little bit when Alec had admitted that he hadn't tried most of what was on the menu. The waitress was young, younger than both Dean and Sam, maybe around Alec's age. She'd definitely been giving him looks since they'd walked in. Dean and Sam had both noticed, but Alec hadn't seemed to.

"Maybe you should go talk to her," Dean suggested with a grin.

"Talk to who?" Alec asked distractedly after the waitress had taken the new order.

"The waitress."

"You want me to tell her I didn't like it?" He asked, confused. "Wouldn't that be rude?"

"No, I meant maybe you should talk to her about the looks she's been givin' you since we got here."

"What looks?" He turned his gaze back on the waitress, who was behind the counter. She saw him looking and she smiled his way. That smile was in no way innocent either.

Alec shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "Shouldn't we be going now?" He asked, refusing to look at either Dean or Sam. He didn't see the look they shared.

"Yeah, sure," Sam answered.

Xxxxxxxxxx

Alec had stayed silent on the ride back to the motel room and after. Dean couldn't help but to feel a bit guilty, sure that the reason behind the silence was him pointing out the waitress' attraction.

Sam had fallen asleep shortly after they'd gotten back to the motel but Dean stayed up. He'd put in a movie when they got back but Alec didn't seem as interested in it as he had been before.

"You wanna tell me what's wrong?" Dean finally asked when they were halfway through The Outlaw Josey Wales and he was sure that Alec couldn't tell him anything about the plot.

"I'm supposed to notice those things, right?" Alec asked him after a moment.

"It's fine, dude. Lots of people don't notice. Sammy used to be pretty clueless about that stuff too."

"That's different and you know it. I mean before-" he cut himself off and his eyes darkened. "…Before, I wouldn't have even known what it meant. _They _had to explain it to me."

"Before what?" Dean asked quietly.

"Nothing," Alec answered quickly. "It's nothing." He tried to focus back on the movie but Dean pressed on.

"It's obviously not nothing." He paused and maybe it was the real concern in his tone that had Alec answering him.

"They sent me out after a man. My cover was a piano teacher for his daughter. And his daughter, she…" He trailed off and there was pain in his tone this time. "I didn't understand what was going on."

"It's okay, man. I get what you're sayin' but it doesn't make me think any less of you." He paused and grinned. "Sides, that's why you got me and Sam now."

Alec almost smiled. "To teach me about eight-ball and Clint Eastwood?"

"Exactly," Dean answered, his grin only widening. "Important things that everyone should learn about in their lives."

Alec snorted and shook his head. "Sure."

Xxxxxxxxx

"The four horsemen?" Alec's voice was incredulous, his eyes wide. "You fought the four horsemen?"

"Well, one of them," Dean qualified. "You know about them?"

Alec shrugged. "Manticore taught us all the important points of every major religion. It was a history lesson. But you fought one?"

"War," Dean answered. He even reached into his pocket and pulled out the ring they'd taken off the horseman, handing it over.

"And you won?" Alec took the ring, examining it.

"By taking that. And, hey, don't sound so surprised."

"Sorry. It's just they taught us that the belief went that the horsemen weren't really men…I mean, Death, Famine, Pestilence, and war? Those are things inherent in the human race."

"Well, you're right," Sam said. "We're pretty sure they can't be killed. But seems like taking the ring took some of his power away."

"So, is this what you're doing? Tracking down the horsemen so you can take their rings?" He asked with a frown.

"No." Dean took the ring back. "That won't stop this. The only way to stop this is to stop the devil."

"Stop him? Like getting him back into that cage? Or…" He trailed off at the look on his face. "You want to kill the devil? But…you just said that killing the horsemen is impossible. What makes you think killing the devil would be?"

"Because at the end of the day, Lucifer is just another angel. And angel's can be killed."

"But he's an archangel and while we've seen angels die, never an archangel. So this might not work. This whole plan could completely backfire on us if the colt doesn't work," Sam commented with a sigh.

"And if this doesn't work, we're pretty much screwed."

Alec sat back. He'd known about the apocalypse, but he hadn't known the specifics of Sam and Dean's plan up until now. It sounded crazy but Alec had been taken out of Manticore _by _an angel.

"Look, you should just know everything," Sam said. "If you really want to go on hunts with us, you should know."

"Alright."

"Alright?"

Alec shrugged. "Not like I didn't already know most of this stuff." And it wasn't like he could leave. It wasn't even just because of the Michael thing either. He really didn't have anywhere else to go.

He could go out on his own, he supposed. Despite all the things he didn't know, he was a fast learner and he was sure he could survive on his own but…he didn't want to. Not anymore.

"You really think there's a chance of this working?" He asked after a moment.

Dean shrugged. "Probably not. But we've already decided we're not going down without a fight."

Alec nodded. He could understand that, and could agree with it.


	6. Chapter 6

Trust wasn't an easy thing for a guy who had been locked up for most of his life and treated like an expendable asset rather than a person. Add the fact that every time he screwed up even in the slightest, and even a couple times when his clone screwed up, he'd been dragged down to be beaten and tortured for a few months…well, it seemed next to impossible.

But, after only weeks spent in the company of Sam and Dean, accompanying them on their hunts, watching movies or shooting pool or whatever, Alec did trust them. He trusted that he could fall asleep in the same room as them and nothing would happen. He trusted that they'd both be there when he woke up.

So, the first time they disappeared on him, he couldn't help the panic that formed in his chest. It started with a woman who saw her husband get killed by The Hulk, which Dean did explain to him later, which led to a longer explanation about comic books and the differences between the television show adaptation and the two movies while Sam went to check out the house.

Then Sam came back with a bunch of candy wrappers that led to another explanation on what a Trickster was and how they knew this particular one. It happened in the time it took him to blink. They walked into the warehouse together. Dean opened the door, Sam and Alec following but as soon as they took a step inside, both Sam and Dean were just…gone.

For several seconds, Alec stood frozen in the doorway, staring at the spot where Dean and Sam had just been. Then the panic started to form. Alec had stared down the barrels of guns and snapped a man's neck without second thought at the same age that most normal kids would have been starting first grade and learning to ride a bike but he was panicking in the doorway of that warehouse.

The warehouse was empty, he could tell that even before he stepped fully inside. His heart was pounding in fear. He ran through everything Dean and Sam had told him and realized, despite all the training he had, how woefully inadequate he was at dealing with this type of situation. _They're not dead. _He repeated that thought a couple of times until his heart rate slowed down a bit and turned, intent on going back to Dean's car. He stopped, however, when a short man with dark hair appeared in front of the door.

"Sorry, kid, but you're my backup plan." He lifted a hand and snapped his fingers and Alec was gone from the warehouse.

"No…" Alec fell to the floor in shock as he noted his new surroundings. He was back, down in the deepest levels of Manticore. Not even the guards ventured down there much anymore. Alec drew his knees close and put his hands over his ears at the howling from Manticore's earliest experiments. The anomalies that had been created in their quest to make the perfect soldier.

None of his training mattered right then. Not at that moment because he was back and they'd find him when someone eventually come down to feed the ones in the other cells. They'd find him and then they'd take him apart trying to figure out how he'd escaped and how he'd gotten back.

For the first time in his life, Alec experienced true panic.

Xxxxxxxx

_"Well, first of all, you're gonna bring Cas and Alec back from wherever you stashed them or we're gonna dunk you in some holy oil and deep fry us an archangel." _

By the time they made it back to the real world and had Gabriel securely trapped, Dean was so pissed off that he was considering following through on the threat anyway. Worry over both Alec and Cas only amplified it. But Gabriel did snap his fingers and both Cas and Alec reappeared.

_"Cas, you okay?" _

_"I'm fine." _

"Good." Dean turned his attention back to Alec then, who had appeared sitting on the floor. He had his head bowed and his hands over his ears but he looked up after a second, startled. Dean and Sam exchanged worried glances.

"You alright?" Dean asked. Alec stared at him with wide eyes for a moment before nodding. Dean reached for him and hauled him to his feet, frowning at how shaky Alec seemed to be on his feet.

"Sure about that?" Dean hadn't let go of him and Alec clutched at him as well.

"I'm alright," Alec mumbled. "What happened?"

"I'll explain later. Right now, we're getting out of here."

Alec didn't argue with that and didn't seem to be paying much attention at the last little exchange between Dean and Gabriel. He was quiet in the backseat of the car while Dean and Sam explained what had happened with what they'd thought was a Trickster.

"Where'd he send you?" Sam asked, turned in his seat.

"Doesn't matter."

Xxxxxxxxx

Alec didn't sleep that night. He lay awake, staring at the ceiling of the motel room. He hadn't spent long in that cell but it had been long enough. Long enough to emphasize the fact that getting recaptured, after everything, was his worst nightmare.

After a while, Alec stood and left the room as quietly as possible. He didn't go far, ended up lying on the hood of the Impala, and staring at the stars this time. He'd never been more scared in his life than he had been today. First, at Dean and Sam disappearing, then at ending up back _there. _

Well, technically, he wouldn't have even recognized that feeling before. Emotions weren't something he was ever encouraged to have. He really needed at least Bobby's phone number in case Dean and Sam ever disappeared on him like that again.

He wasn't sure how long he'd been lying there when the motel room door opened and he sat up to see Dean coming out. He closed the door quietly but there was anger in his eyes when his gaze met Alec's.

"Don't do that."

"Do what?"

"Leave like that without sayin' something."

"But I didn't leave," Alec pointed out.

Dean rolled his eyes. "What are you doin' out here anyway?"

Alec shrugged and looked down. "Couldn't sleep," he admitted.

"This about where that dick sent you?" Dean's voice held a good deal of concern and Alec almost smiled. He was _still _getting used to being around people that actually gave a damn about him.

"I can't go back," he said quietly after a moment.

"Back where?"

"Manticore." Alec's fists clenched and he lifted his head again. "I can't go back again. I'd rather die."

There was a flash of anger in Dean's eyes, and Alec was smart enough to know it wasn't directed at him before the concern was back. He rubbed a hand over the back of his neck and sighed.

"Look, after everything that's happened, I'm really not into makin' promises I might not be able to keep. Sticking with us probably won't be good for your health but I can say this: me and Sam aint going to let you get taken or die, at least not without one hell of a fight. And if Gabriel hadn't brought you back, we would've looked for you and we wouldn't have stopped until we found you."

"Really?" A new warmth invaded his chest at the sincerity in Dean's eyes.

"Yeah, you're kind of family now." He paused, grinned. "Course, you might regret that later."

Alec grinned as well. "Never."


	7. Chapter 7

Okay…so, since I'm dealing with a pre-season 2 Alec in this fic…I thought I'd put some more in this chapter about that. According to the show, Alec had never even kissed a girl, and he didn't understand the basic concept of attraction before Rachel. So, yeah…I always wonder how long it took him to change into what he was in the second season from what he was before Rachel.

Xxxxx

"You really think this is a good idea?" Sam asked again, keeping his gaze trained on the pool table across the room where Alec was playing against some big guy that Dean had actually initially challenged.

"Course it is. Kid's a natural. Picked it up faster than anyone I've ever seen."

Sam rolled his eyes. "Guess that's not really a surprise, considering."

"Yeah. But you should get back to that. We've stuck around here for way too long."

Sam finally diverted his attention to his laptop, although he couldn't help but to glance up periodically to check on Alec. Dean was back at the bar, flirting with some woman that had caught his eye when he glanced towards Alec again and spotted another person approaching him.

A woman, younger than the one Dean was talking to. The exchange was brief but Sam saw the way that Alec shifted when the woman moved closer to him and he frowned, was only distracted when Dean sat down again with a satisfied look on his face.

"Find anything?"

"Why? You want to head out tonight?" Sam raised an eyebrow.

Dean shrugged, smirked but before he could answer, Alec slammed money down on the table in front of him. Neither of them had seen him approaching and Alec's expression was nothing but self satisfied when Dean jumped and then glared up at him.

"I won," Alec stated, sitting as well.

"I see that." Dean tilted his head. "What was that about?"

"What?" But Alec's gaze slid away from his.

"You know what. The waitress that was practically hangin' off you."

Alec shrugged and fidgeted in a restless fashion. "She told me she gets off work in a half hour." He was frowning then and Dean didn't smile or clap him on the shoulder like he would have Sam at the obvious offer from a pretty woman. Sam had no doubt Dean was remembering Alec's less than positive reaction the last time something like it had happened.

"So? What are you gonna do about it?"

Alec shrugged and squirmed a bit in his seat. When he looked up, his eyes were wide and he leaned in close to them. "I'm just…I've never…" His voice was low, and he trailed off before he could finish.

"We could leave. There's a job a state over that we could take if we leave tonight," Sam offered.

"Or we could stay," Dean offered right back. "If you want."

"It's not…normal, is it?" Alec asked after a moment. "I mean, I know I'm not normal and I'm never going to be but…"

"It's just sex," Dean stated with a shrug. "You're not back at Manticore, you're not on a mission. All that girl wants is to have a little fun. Trust me, people over think this stuff way too much."

"I don't like over thinking things," Alec said, his frown deepening.

"Then don't. Go with what you want. Life sucks, dude. And it's probably gonna continue to suck. But, hey, we're not on the job right now and you're not locked up anymore. So, do what you want."

Alec ducked his head at this but neither Sam or Dean missed the smile.

Xxxxxxx

"Huh." Sam watched Alec from across the room again as he spoke to the girl that had approached him earlier.

"Let's go," Dean said, standing and setting down his empty beer.

"What about the girl you were talking up earlier?"

Dean hesitated only briefly. "Naw. Not my type."

Sam's eyebrows shot up. "Sure. So you're not blowing her off so you can wait up for Alec at the motel."

"Shut up," was the only retort he got aside from the glare. Sam grinned and got up to follow him out.

Xxxxxxx

Maybe it was about being normal. The fact that he'd never done anything like this before wasn't what had Alec feeling weird. It was the fact that his first urge when the woman had approached him had been to run in the opposite direction.

Rachel was still too fresh in his mind. The last-and first-time he'd even kissed a girl…Still, Dean and Sam were about as abnormal as any non-transgenic he'd ever met and neither of them were weird about this stuff.

Then there was what Dean had said. The whole idea that it was solely his decision. Well, technically, that had been the case since he'd met Dean and Sam but he'd still just been following Dean and Sam's leads since then too.

He'd thought about it a lot, though. Not sex, specifically. But trying everything that he'd never been allowed to try before. He'd already done some of that. He liked sitting around eating junk food and watching crap television with Dean and Sam.

This, though, this was definitely new. It was also different. Completely different than what had happened between he and Rachel. This girl was looking at him in a completely different way and she got right up into his personal space as soon as he went over to talk to her again. He completely understood his own bodies reaction to that too.

Xxxxxx

"So…uh…I'm gonna go, I guess." Alec was already lacing up his shoes as he said it. The woman, Kasey, was still stretched out on the bed beside him.

"Kinda figured that."

"Yeah….So…" Alec turned to her, unsure of what he was supposed to do now. "Thanks?"

Kasey laughed. "First time, huh? I'm surprised, even with how you were. You're just so damned cute."

"…Thanks," Alec repeated, glancing around the room to find his jacket.

Kasey's grin widened and she got up on her knees, placing her hands on his shoulders. "Don't worry, honey. Once you get that confidence up, I'm bettin' you'll be breaking hearts all over this country."

"You think?"

"Oh, yeah. I can see it."

Alec couldn't help but to grin a bit and he even leaned close to place one last kiss on her lips before he grabbed his jacket and headed towards the door. "Very nice meeting you," he said, surprising even himself with his tone.

"Sure was. Thanks for the ride."

Alec's lips twitched again and then he was out the door. He'd barely made it out of the parking lot, and was digging in his pocket for the cell phone Dean and Sam had bought him and insisted he carry when a man appeared before him.

Alec stopped short, automatically wary. "Who are you?" He asked, his stance going defensive.

"Oh, that's right. I am sorry. We haven't been formally introduced. My name is Zachariah."

Alec only had a moment to register that name and what it meant before the angel reached forward and darkness enveloped his vision.


	8. Chapter 8

"Sam!"

Sam jerked awake at the sound of his brother's voice, coming alert almost instantly at the tone. He sat up, eyes going wide.

"What happened?" He asked immediately. Dean was standing beside his bed, a frown of worry on his face.

"Alec isn't here."

Sam blinked several times, trying to banish the last bit of sleep befuddlement before squinting at the clock but he didn't panic like Dean seemed to be close to doing. "Did you-"

"I tried calling. He's not answering."

_That _made the concern rise and had him more alert than ever. He swung his feet to the floor. "Okay…" He glanced at the clock a gain, scrubbing a hand through his hair. "It's still early. Maybe…" But he trailed off. Alec always answered the phone, ever since Dean had given him the damn thing.

Dean had made it a sort of condition mostly due to the stunt Gabriel had pulled by making Alec disappear. Plus, it was early but it was morning. Sam hadn't expected Alec would stay all night with the waitress he'd left the bar with the night before.

"You know where they were headed?" He asked, standing and reaching for his bag, digging for a clean pair of jeans.

"No." Dean's frown deepened and he looked as if he regretted _that _lack of knowledge.

Sam chewed his lip a moment as Dean tried Alec's number again, probably for the tenth time. "We need to find the waitress then," Sam stated.

"I'm callin' Cas," Dean declared a second later and something twisted in Sam's chest. He thought about the angels and the reason Cas had originally brought Alec to them. He got the same feeling he remembered getting all those times Dean had gone missing on him.

Xxxxxxxx

Pain burned through his veins like fire. His vision had already blurred and he wondered if he was still screaming. His vocal cords certainly hurt enough. A familiar face swam into focus briefly and he flinched away from the distorted vision of Lydecker. The biggest problem was that he couldn't actually remember what he had done wrong, what he had done wrong enough to cause Lydecker to be there instead of Sandoval or one of the others lower on the chain of command.

"Just submit, 494, and it'll stop."

He opened his mouth, this time to follow the order when the agony eased some but stopped short, another voice sounding in his head, and another guy who looked like him.

_"We'll find you." _

Alec groaned, and bit the inside of his cheek so hard he could taste blood. "No." And the agony came back, even stronger than before.

Xxxxxxxx

"You can't find him?" Dean practically growled the question, pacing the motel room.

"No," Cas answered. "If Zachariah has him, it will be…difficult." Nearly impossible, most likely. The angel's usually stoic gaze was concerned as well, and Dean was pretty sure it wasn't just because the threat Michael would pose if Zachariah really did have Alec.

"I called the bar," Sam supplied. "The waitress' name was Kasey but she won't be on for another two hours."

Sam shifted where he sat, feeling just as restless as Dean. "What if it wasn't Zachariah?" He asked now. "There are other people still looking for Alec."

Dean turned his gaze on Cas and the angel nodded. "I will see." Cas vanished a second later and Dean grabbed his coat.

"Come on. Let's retrace some steps."

Sam nodded. It was all they could do. Maybe they could convince someone at the bar to give out some more information on the waitress. Whatever they did, they needed to do it soon. Dean had already declared Alec family and really he was now.

Xxxxxxx

"_You're kind of family now." _

Alec held on to the words, one's he remembered hearing. He held onto them as the agony came and went. When he did that, when he held onto the images of the two guys who had taken him in and declared him family, he thought he could see past it.

He could remember that Lydecker wasn't really there, that the room he was in was not situated in one of the lower levels of Manticore. He could remember that he wasn't back there, and that he shouldn't do as he was told this time.

Rachel's face swam into focus when he squeezed his eyes shut and it actually helped, helped him remember that orders shouldn't always be followed, that sometimes worse things happened when you did follow them.

He still managed to say no.

Xxxxxxx

Dean leaned over the bar, practically staring Kasey down. "He left last night?" He pressed her, his grip on the edge of the bar tightening.

"Yeah. Just after we…finished, actually." Kasey was frowning at the two men. She'd liked the young man, Alec, even if he'd been a bit awkward at first and hadn't seemed to know exactly what he was doing.

"Dammit." Dean, he'd introduced himself as, ran a hand over his forehead and looked close to breaking something if the anger and worry on his face was anything to go by. He and the taller one had said they were Alec's brothers and Kasey believed it. If not for the age difference, she would have sworn Dean and Alec were twins.

"I drove him back to my apartment building," she offered, sympathetic. She had a younger sister herself and didn't want to think about something happening to her.

"Where?" The taller of the two's gaze was just as intense as Dean's and Kasey didn't hesitate in answering. She watched as they turned on their heels and left without another word. Kasey watched them go, pained herself, and hoped they found him.

Xxxxxxx

"You know what I'm asking?"

Alec lay shaking, staring up through the haze but still he nodded. He still remembered but it was getting harder to hold onto the images, to hold onto the voices of the only two people he'd met that had ever cared about him.

"You really did inherit that stubbornness didn't you?"

Alec choked on a laugh and then a scream when the pain spiked again, momentarily whiting out everything else. _Do what you want, _he thought when he was able to again. He'd been through worse, he was convinced. His total time in Psy-Ops added up to almost two years of his life.

"It's not going to take that long." A pause. "However…maybe I should try a different tactic."

This time, the physical pain didn't come back but what did come was much worse.

Xxxxxx

"Well?" Dean asked as soon as he and Sam stepped into the motel room and found Cas waiting for them.

"I believe that Zachariah does have him."

Dean slumped down on one of the beds, the last bit of hope he had leaving. Manticore, he could have dealt with better. Hell, Cas could have just taken him out again if it was them. But Cas wasn't even really a match for Zachariah anymore, not with his power fading the way it had been since he'd sided with Dean and Sam over the other angels.

"What the hell do we do now? How do we find him?" Dean stood back up abruptly, agitated. The question was directed more at himself that it was Cas but Cas still answered it.

"I will search but it may be futile. I have been cut off from Heaven now long enough and Zachariah will have made sure he will not be found unless he wants to be."

"Unless he wants to be," Dean repeated. "As in if you do find him, it'll most likely be a trap."

"Yes," Cas answered. "If they truly want this battle, they will need Sam as well."

"Right." Dean blew out a frustrated breath.

"Maybe we need some bigger guns," Sam suggested.

Dean turned to his brother, his gaze sharp. "What?"

"Well, even if we do find Zachariah, we still need a way to fight him. And Zachariah isn't an archangel but we do know-"

"No. No way, Sam. We are not askin' that douchebag for help!"

"You got a better idea?" Sam stood as well. "He is an archangel, Dean. He'd probably be able to find Zachariah easily _and _get Alec out without any risk."

"Yeah, he's also an archangel that _wants _this fight to go down, if you'll remember," Dean countered with a scowl. "That's why he took us on the trip through TV land, wasn't it?"

"Maybe he changed his mind. Maybe what you said got to him. He didn't come after us again after you let him go, did he? And he could have easily," Sam pointed out.

Dean hesitated and shook his head. "After everything he's done you really think he'll help us?"

Sam shrugged. "Probably not but I'm willing to try whatever it takes." There was fierceness in Sam's eyes as he said it and Dean nodded.

"Okay. Okay, fine."

Xxxxxxxx

_"This is how it's going to end." _

The physical pain was gone but Alec was still left helpless, unable to move as the images, vivid in clarity, played out before his eyes. He watched Dean and Sam die and he screamed louder than he had since he'd been taken away.


End file.
